Knights at the theatre

Keep your animatronic Dylan Thomas and holographic Ol' Blue Eyes. London's theatreland will echo to more august tones this evening, as the king of the 19th-century stage, Henry Irving, stalks the boards of the Lyceum once again, 100 years after his death. That's Sir Henry to you, in fact: effortlessly the most famous actor of his day, he was also the first thespian ever to be knighted - not bad going for a gangly nobody from Somerset.

Alas Irving won't be able to make the event (it seems we'll be spared the videolink to the afterlife), but the equally grand Steven Berkoff will be stepping into Irving's supersize buskins in order to perform a rehearsed reading of The Bells. Leopold Lewis's romping melodrama was the play in which Irving first shot to fame, and is billed by tonight's promoters, a little disturbingly, as "the Silence of the Lambs of its day".

That's as may be, but it's interesting to note that whereas The Bells managed to pack in the crowds for 150 performances in a row in the early 1870s, nowadays the Lyceum has to settle for The Lion King instead. One can only hope, a touch forlornly, that some people may have booked for the wrong show, and will turn up expecting a bit of heartwarming guff from young Simba, only to get a bit of a shock.

In any case, a veritable constellation of theatrical stars will be hovering in attendance, from Ian McKellen, who will be unveiling a plaque to Irving's memory (and also that of novelist Bram Stoker, whose day-job was as Irving's theatre manager), to Cherie Lunghi. If you're in the area, the event begins at 7.30pm; tickets cost between £10-20 and can be ordered from Ticketmaster on 0870 534 4444. Proceeds will go to theatrical charity TheatreCares.